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“I’ll stick to FCP but I encourage you to switch to CS6”
Today I found myself in the middle of a paradox as the words “I’ll stick to FCP but I encourage you to switch to CS6” came out of my mouth.
I work for a Film School is south east asia. As most of you we have been taken by surprise by Apple’s change of “paradigm”. We have been patiently waiting for signs within the industry to make a decision of the direction to take. We have been running a combination of FCP7, Motion, DaVinci Resolve (with Resolve Controller), Pro Tools, and were considering Nuke, for our curriculum. As an educational institute we want to achieve two major goals: produce students that are “industry ready”, and for that we have to look at where the industry is going, and also, we want to empower our students in all the areas of filmmaking so that can lead a project from conception to finishing, and continue to do so after they graduate with their own equipment.
Personally, I tried going back to Avid, it was an horrible experience. Do not get me wrong, I love Avid and MC is an amazing software. But, the feeling just wasn’t there. Unless I have to “work work” with it, it’s not for me. CS5.5 was an remarkable improvement from the last version of PPro. However, the interface is just not there. I even gave EDIUS a try and was considering Lightwork Nothing felt as comfy as FCP7, lazy me. So I decided to embark on a ride: FCPX.
For somebody who just spend hours rippling cuts the magnetic timeline makes a lot of sense. I found myself at home very quickly, tagging my way through clips, flying through my rough cut and trimming the lot in a breeze. It was when I tried to lock myself to music FCPX felt like a cold bath. But, with time, we all develop our workarounds. Now, for the type of content I intend to do (documentaries) FCPX makes a lot of sense. I will still us Resolve for the color, Pro Tools for the sound, and Motion for the little graphics I need.
However, for my students, I reluctantly feel CS6 is the best way to go. It’s the all in on package they need. PPro seems to finally look like an app that could be used for great things, AE is always and now even more the killer app of its kind, and all the additional goodies all address the essential parts of the post-prod process. It’s what I want when i was them, and eventually Apple gave us Studio. Adobe is there, in a very good form.
I, now, have my habits, and Pro Tools is home, Resolve quickly became my best friend (and BlackMagic my saviors) and FCPX will get a chance. As so far, Apple has delivered some amazing updates, really showing they are listening.
In the end, what matters is what they do with it, not what it is. We want our students to understand that software are just tools, and tools keep changing. For all I know, in 2014 I’ll be editing on Smoke for 499$
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15 Replies
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[Giorgio Palazzi] “In the end, what matters is what they do with it, not what it is. We want our students to understand that software are just tools, and tools keep changing. For all I know, in 2014 I’ll be editing on Smoke for 499$
“Wise words, with all this change that’s happening I don’t envy those people just starting in the industry trying to figure out which NLE they need to learn to get work.
Steve Connor
“FCPX Professional”
Adrenalin Television -
[Steve Connor] “I don’t envy those people just starting in the industry trying to figure out which NLE they need to learn to get work.”
I went to a pretty good-sized school (10,000 people or so), and I only knew 2 people who ever saw a computer. They handed in a pile of punch cards every day, and didn’t find out until the NEXT day if they did anything right. Everything about moving into this business and moving up it was painful. Every new tool took forever to learn. And they were freaking EXPENSIVE. Not kidding even a little – I took out a home equity loan to buy my first NLE and storage.
Even for people in their 30s, part of what makes NLE churn so churny is that there was some idea that “this” is “THE” way to go. Between investments in NLE-specific IO and emotional investments in good and evil, there was a sense of playing for keeps with these choices.
Now, it’s all play. No keeps. It’s like college DATING applied to NLEs. Somebody pretty invites you into bed, you GO. Not only are they making it EASY for you to have multiple partners, they ASSUME you have multiple partners.
Kidding aside, kids are learning that NONE of this is all that hard. When you need to learn something else, learn it.
“Why are you still talking? I’ve already learned the next thing, and am on to the one after that.”
Not that I’m into that “Ah beeleeeve that children R R fewwww-cher” nonsense. Kids are idiots. And like all geezers, I think they have it way too easy. But I also think they have it right.
Tim Wilson
Associate Publisher, Editor-in-Chief
Creative COW Magazine
Twitter: timdoubleyou -
[Giorgio Palazzi] “t was when I tried to lock myself to music FCPX felt like a cold bath”
Apple implied significant audio improvements in their comments to Larry Jordan and others. Let’s hope so because it is FCPX’s weakest area. Currently, despite Logic plugins and excellent sub frame editing (I’m really appreciating that), audio seems to be an afterthought at best. I’m looking forward to Apple’s improvements in that area. I think it’ll not only happen in FCPX, I think Logic Pro X will be tied to it as well.
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[Giorgio Palazzi] “It was when I tried to lock myself to music FCPX felt like a cold bath. “
Next door you can find the FCPX Techniques forum. For mixing and cutting Audio, the Jim Giberti technique is the go-to method so far.
https://forums.creativecow.net/readpost/335/29301
It’s works very well. Whereas Jim spent a bit of time creating pseudo-tracks, I find I just need to make them as I go, but the organization is key, making sure each pseud-track is comprised of the same role.
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[Tim Wilson] “Kidding aside, kids are learning that NONE of this is all that hard. When you need to learn something else, learn it.
“Why are you still talking? I’ve already learned the next thing, and am on to the one after that.”
Not that I’m into that “Ah beeleeeve that children R R fewwww-cher” nonsense. Kids are idiots. And like all geezers, I think they have it way too easy. But I also think they have it right.
“I agree. I think its a golden time to be popping into this whole world. When I first popped into it, EDLs were still rare, and the “magic” was being able to put all your offline edits on punch tape–including all of the mistakes and/or re-edits–and then pay dearly to watch them reassembled–including all of the mistakes and/or re-edits–on 1″ tape. The fact that they have to navigate half a dozen choices that give them near-state-of-the-art facilities in a box elicits no pity from me. Its also why I chortle anytime someone refers to FCP X as a revolution. Parts of it are interesting. Parts of it are different. But the actual video revolution that took place a couple of decades ago was so large in comparison, that calling X “revolutionary” is like someone finding a tree, piddling themselves a little pool, and then proclaiming, “Look! I made me an ocean!”
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[Chris Harlan] “Its also why I chortle anytime someone refers to FCP X as a revolution…. calling X “revolutionary” is like someone finding a tree, piddling themselves a little pool, and then proclaiming, “Look! I made me an ocean!””
I can see FCPX maybe entering into a conversation because it rattles the 100 year old conventions of film editing that FCP Legacy was built on. But when I see people call THAT revolutionary, their credibility drops to zero and I go back to picking my nose.
Tim Wilson
Associate Publisher, Editor-in-Chief
Creative COW Magazine
Twitter: timdoubleyou -
[Tim Wilson] ” it rattles the 100 year old conventions of film editing that FCP Legacy was built”
Its funny. I came out of television, which embraced electronic editing first, so I tend to think of anything with a Source/Record motif as being a child of television. The gulf that used to exist between film and TV editors seems almost unthinkable today. I mean, everybody still gets stuck in their respective niches but the degree to which film and television were such different planets is difficult to describe to people today.
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Nice tip, Richard. Thanks for the reminder that there’s a forum where people USE FCPX, and some of them LIKE it. 🙂
[Chris Harlan] “[Tim Wilson] ” it rattles the 100 year old conventions of film editing that FCP Legacy was built”
Its funny. I came out of television, which embraced electronic editing first, so I tend to think of anything with a Source/Record motif as being a child of television. “
Okay, fair enough. But TV editing has been around for a long time too. (Did you know that Desi Arnaz invented multicam editing for I Love Lucy? See more here.) I don’t know how long source and record windows have been around, but 2-inch quad was introduced in 1956, so…a long time. You’re right, I should have paid more attention to this, as my dirty little secret is that I prefer TV to movies anyway….
Tim Wilson
Associate Publisher, Editor-in-Chief
Creative COW Magazine
Twitter: timdoubleyou -
[Tim Wilson] “I can see FCPX maybe entering into a conversation because it rattles the 100 year old conventions of film editing that FCP Legacy was built on. “
Could you explain what you mean by this? Many thanks!
[Tim Wilson] “But when I see people call THAT revolutionary, their credibility drops to zero and I go back to picking my nose.”
you missed a couple of words in the sentence: … revolutionary, FOR ME their credibility …
Cheers
Carsten -
[Tim Wilson] “But when I see people call THAT revolutionary, “
Revolutions can be bloody, even for the victor. Revolutions can also be won by attrition.
FCPX is revolutionary even though we don’t know the long term outcome.
Sometimes establishing a small fortified beachhead is a first step.
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